therefore, asked by the spirits about me whether they recollected that promise. They said that they did recollect it; but that they did not know whether the promise had been made in such a manner as to preclude all doubt respecting it. While they were thus talking together, the Sun of heaven appeared to them. (The Sun of heaven, which is the Lord, is seen only by those who are in the inmost or third heaven; others see the light which proceeds from it.) On seeing the Sun, they said that this was not the Lord God, because they saw no face. Meanwhile the spirits were conversing with each other, but I did not hear what they said. Suddenly, however, the Sun again appeared, and in the midst of it the Lord, encompassed with a solar circle: at this sight the spirits of Mercury humbled themselves profoundly, and bowed down. At that time also, the Lord appeared out of that Sun to certain spirits of our Earth, who, when they were men, had seen Him in the world; and they, one after another, and thus many in succession, confessed that it was the Lord Himself; and they made this confession before the whole assembly. At the same time also the Lord appeared out of the Sun to the spirits of the planet Jupiter, who declared with a clear voice, that it was He Himself whom they had seen on their earth when the God of the universe appeared to them^s.

Footnote s: (return)

The Lord is the Sun of heaven, from which proceeds all the light there, nos. 1053, 3636, 4060. And the Lord thus appears to those who are in His celestial kingdom, where love to Him reigns, nos. 1521, 1529-1531, 1837, 4696. He appears at a middle height above the plane of the right eye, nos. 4321, 7078. Therefore in the Word the sun signifies the Lord as to the Divine Love, nos. 2495, 4060, 7083. The sun of the world does not appear to spirits and angels, but in its place as it were a dark something behind, opposite to the Sun of heaven or to the Lord, no. 9755.

41. After the Lord had appeared, some were led towards the front parts to the right, and as they advanced, they said that they saw a light much clearer and purer than they had ever seen before, and that a greater light could not possibly be seen: and it was then the time of evening here. Those who said this were many^t.

Footnote t: (return)

In the heavens there is great light, which exceeds, by many degrees, the noon-day light on earth, nos. 1117, 1521, 1533, 1619-1632, 4527, 5400, 8644. All light in the heavens is from the Lord as the Sun there, nos. 1053, 1521, 3195, 3341, 3636, 3643, 4415, 9548, 9684, 10809. The Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love appears in the heavens as light and constitutes all the light there, nos. 3195, 3222, 5400, 8644, 9399, 9548, 9684. The light of heaven illuminates both the sight and the understanding of the angels, nos. 2776, 3138. Heaven being said to be in light and heat, signifies in wisdom and in love, nos. 3643, 9399, 9401.

42. It should be known that the sun of the world does not appear at all to any spirit, nor does anything of the light from it. The light of this sun is, to spirits and angels, like thick darkness. This sun remains in the perception with spirits only from their having seen it when they were in the world, and it is exhibited to them in idea as an exceedingly dark something, and situated behind at a considerable distance, at a little height above the plane of the head. The planets which are within the system of this sun appear according to a fixed situation in respect to the sun: Mercury appears behind, a little towards the right; the planet Venus to the left, a little backwards; the planet Mars to the left in front; the planet Jupiter likewise to the left in front, but at a greater distance; the planet Saturn directly in front, at a considerable distance; the Moon to the left, at a moderate height: the satellites also appear to the left relatively to their own planets. Such is the situation of these planets in the ideas of spirits and angels. Spirits also appear near their own planet, but apart from it. With regard to the spirits of Mercury in particular, they do not appear in any particular quarter, or at any particular distance, but they appear sometimes in front, sometimes to the left, sometimes a little to the back; the reason is, that they are allowed to wander through the universe for the purpose of procuring knowledges.

43. Some spirits of Mercury once appeared to the left in a globe, and afterwards in a compact body (volumen) extending itself lengthwise. I wondered whither they were bent, whether to this or to some other earth, and I soon observed that they turned towards the right, and, rolling along, approached the earth or planet Venus towards the quarter in front. But when they reached it, they said that they would not remain there, because the inhabitants were evil; wherefore they turned round to the back part of that earth, and then said they would remain there, because the inhabitants of that part were good. While this was taking place I was sensible of a remarkable change in the brain, and of a powerful operation from it. From this it was given me to conclude that the spirits of Venus who are from that part of the planet, were in concord with the spirits of Mercury, and that they had relation to the memory of material things which is in concord with the memory of immaterial things, to which the spirits of Mercury have relation; hence a more powerful operation was felt from them when they were there.

44. I was desirous of knowing what kind of face and body the men (homines) on the earth Mercury have, and whether they are like the men (homines) on our Earth. There was then exhibited before my eyes a woman exactly resembling those who are on that earth. Her face was beautiful, but smaller than that of the women of our Earth; she was also more slender in body, but of equal height: her head was covered with some linen stuff, arranged without art but still in a becoming manner. A man (vir) also was exhibited. He, too, was more slender in body than the men (viri) of our Earth; he was clothed in a garment of dark blue fitting closely to his body, without folds or protuberances anywhere. Such, I was told, were the personal form and clothing of the men (homines) of that earth. Afterwards there were exhibited some kinds of their oxen and cows, which did not, indeed, differ much from those on our Earth, except that they were smaller, and approximated in some measure to the stag and hind species.

45. They were also questioned about the sun of the system, how it appears from their earth. They said that it appeared large, and larger there than from other earths; they said that they knew this from the ideas of other spirits respecting the sun. They said further that they enjoyed a middle temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. It was then given me to tell them, that it has been so provided for them by the Lord, in order that they might not be exposed to excessive heat from the